Nose for News
This is a story from ''Popeye'', the original series published by Dell in 1948. The series was later renamed to Popeye the Sailor as it continued with other publishers. It has also been reprinted in other comic books by other publishers since then. __TOC__ 'Synopsis' The professor and Sappo fight over the evening newspaper. 'Plot' The Professor is furious that Sappo gets the evening news paper first every night. When he is finished reading it, he uses it to wrap the garbage before giving it to the Professor. This not only makes it hard to read, but all the neighborhood cats want the scraps wrapped in it. The Professor decides to use his brain to solve the problem and get a chance to read a freshly delivered paper. For his first attempt, he sets up a rope in a tree attached to a net so he can snag the paper when it is delivered by the paperboy. He is so sure it will work, he plans to glue the pages together after is done with it so Sappo cannot read it. The trap works perfectly and retrieves the paper as it is designed to. However, the Professor did not expect Sappo to retaliate and use a pair of garden shears to cut the rope. This only enrages the Professor even more and plans an even more elaborate trap for his next try. Wotasnozzle digs a tunnel under the front yard and constructs a trap door in the lawn. He places a telescoping arm under the door, with a baseball glove attached to the end of it. The telescopic device is hooked up to a compressed air pump to activate the arm mechanism. He keeps a watchful eye on the front yard with his wide-angle periscope so he can spot the paperboy and spring the trap at just the right time. His genius and hard work pays off and snags his prize perfectly. He enjoys a well-earned reward of the first perusal through his favorite periodical and looks forward to the same outcome every night. When it is time to reset his device on the following night, the outcome is not in his favor a second time. The Professor is unaware that Sappo makes precautions to negate a victory two nights in a row with a complicated contraption of his own. When the Professor activates the mechanical arm, it sets off a complex domino effect involving a see-saw, a goat and many other elements to drop a barrel of molasses in the Professor's tunnel. The Professor gets his precious paper, but it is not much of a victory. After this event, Wotasnozzle decides on using another tactic and tries to make a wager over a coin toss. He attempts to use a two-headed coin, but Sappo is wise to this trick. The Professor avoids Sappo's violent response to this ploy by offering another kind of bet. Each one selects one of two flies in the house. Whoever picks the correct fly to land in a box of candy on the table will win the newspaper privileges. The Professor wins because a bird flies in through a window and eats Sappo's insect. That night, the Professor proudly collects his evening paper. Upon settling down to read it, he finds it filled with garbage. Sappo has outsmarted Wotasnozzle once again by paying off the newsboy to fill it with garbage before delivering it. Last Updated: / / Category:Comics